emigration canyon residence

Last October while exploring Emigration Canyon, I randomly came upon this home and was blown away by its stark simplicity and beauty. I took some pictures and attempted unsuccessfully to discover online who had designed it. Several months later, the home, which had just recently been completed, won a 2009 Merit Award from the AIA Utah. The architect is Sparano + Mooney Architecture located here in Salt Lake City.

From the description portion of the website,

"Located in Emigration Canyon just above Salt Lake City, Utah this single family residence of 2,500SF was designed for a couple with young children. The home was designed to capture expansive canyon views while offering a series of gathering and entertainment spaces for the family, both indoors and out. The great room opens to the canyon with a 30 foot operable wall to transform the space into an outdoor room. The warm colors of cor-ten steel cladding combine with a board-formed wood textured concrete and glass for a contextual, low-maintenance and modern material palette. The house has submitted for LEED certification with green design features throughout. The cladding is recycled steel shingles which will turn a deep rust color matching the fall canyon colors foliage. Natural light is brought into the house with solatube skylights and heat is provided through an energy-efficient in-floor radiant heating system. The design required minimum excavation of the site and allowed for the retention of much of the native oaks on site. The house was designed by Sparano + Mooney Architecture for long-term flexibility with a lower floor multi-use space to house guests, a home office, a playroom or an art studio. Native, draught-tolerant landscaping elements compliment the architecture and further tie the home to its canyon setting."

Here is a link to a very cool time-lapse of construction photos from the Sparano + Mooney website: Time-Lapse Construction Video



Section through home from Sparano + Mooney website


Photo of kitchen from Sparano + Mooney website

gustavson residence

"In designing this crisply rhythmic house for his own family - a traditionally daunting chore - architect Gustavson states: 'Designing a residence for my family was an exciting challenge. I wanted a residence that had privacy and yet an openness to the view and the interior landscaping of the site. The property, coupled with the landscaping and location on a private road, was large enough to insure the privacy we wanted. To gain the view and intimacy with the surrounds and the seasons, we decided to design principally a glass house. A steel frame was used to gain the freedom of plan desired and to permit the large glass areas.... The bedroom organization was to reverse this openness and divide the space into three bedrooms and a study library.'

His success in suiting his own program is very evident in the unforced elegance of the house, in the extremely workable plan, and in the not exorbitant cost of $40,000 for 2200 sq ft of roof, and a separate carport, also of steel frame.

Of the house, Gustavson now says: 'The plan has worked very well. My wife and children have not had any suggestions on how to do it better, and I consider this a real accomplishment.'"
(Architectural Record, Architectural Houses of 1960, Mid-May 1960, v. 127, page 136)






Nine years after this home was built, "Salt Lake architect Dean L. Gustavson was elected president of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards during the annual convention at Chicago." (reported in Deseret News June 28, 1969, page A11)

NCARB President 1970 Dean L. Gustavson, FAIA, Utah





"The plan centers on the use of a compact kitchen-utility-bathroom-closet core. The element is treated as a piece of furniture, with walnut panel surfaces. The space of four areas flows around the core: entrance, living area, kitchen-dining area, and family multi-use room. There is space, yet some separation.

Materials used in the structure are generally exposed throughout: the white-painted steel frame; the face brick laid in a flemish bond; the oak window fenestration, stained black and varnished. Interior woodwork is lacquered walnut. Other wall areas are ceramic tile in bathrooms and plasterboard on some bedroom walls. The ceiling is suspended plaster. Draperies are a light beige-gold color; floor coverings are white vinyl and gold colored carpeting.

The utility systems are largely incorporated in the floor slab. Heating is by two reverse-flow forced-air furnaces feeding to a perimeter under-floor duct system. It was designed for a quick air change and heat delivery. Electrical and phone service is by underground conduit."
(Architectural Record, Architectural Houses of 1960, Mid-May 1960, v. 127, page 139)



(All photos are by William Beal. Scanned from Architectural Record, Architectural Houses of 1960, Mid-May 1960, v. 127, page 136-139)

I have not yet been able to locate this home in the Salt Lake valley. If anyone has information on its location, I would greatly appreciate it.

harlan residence

Composite drawing showing site plan, floor plan, exterior elevations, and building section (GA Houses, March 1994, n. 41, p. 122)

Designed in 1993 for client Willard Harlan, this Salt Lake City residence was designed by architect Taeg Nishimoto, with Leonard Camposano and Wendi Shafran as assistants. The home was subsequently published in the prestigious GA Houses magazine the following year.

In an email response to my query for information on the project, the architect, Taeg Nishimoto stated, "The project was a completely hypothetical one and it was never built. The client, a friend of mine, wanted to have something he could dream of at the time, so the context (site) was also an imagined one. We worked on his description of what the place might be. He passed away since then." Taeg is currently a Professor and Associate Dean at The University of Texas at San Antonio.


Drawing of hallway perspective (GA Houses, March 1994, n. 41, p. 123)

“The site is situated at the edge of a gently sloping plain with some trees, which, due to the occasional strong winds of the region, are shaped quite picturesquely. The house was conceived as a protective shelter constructed from a concrete slab which completely opens to the landscape on one side and provides a more intense, independent spatial experience on the other side. It also utilizes the roof as a continuous surface between the two levels of the earth of these two sides to be walked on as well as giving a strong presence to the house in the open landscape. The spatial articulation involves a rather complex geometry which is intended to create the spatial autonomy of the interior of the house against the surrounding natural components such as the sky and the configuration of the ground surface, as well as to enhance the abstract quality of the concrete surface which envelopes it. The geometric arrangement is conceived in order to create the perception of continuity throughout the space-defining surfaces, both visibly and invisibly. The continuously undulating surfaces of the concrete and the other interacting components made of various materials, such as wood paneling and metal sheets, are intended to create the abstract and yet highly textural continuity of the space. It is most evident in the circulation space through the house along the closed side with different sources of natural light where the client's drawings would be displayed." (GA Houses, March 1994, n. 41, p. 121)


Model of house and site (GA Houses, March 1994, n. 41, p. 121)

sad day...

(Image Source)

In case you haven't heard, Salt Lake lost a treasure today. 1547 Yale Avenue in the Yalecrest Historic District was torn down by the owner, Tom Hulbert. The home is right in the heart of the Historic District, a district that was the feature of the 2009 Utah Heritage Foundation Home Tour.

The home was purchased by the present owners in 2007, at the very same time the Yalecrest district received the designation from the National Register of Historic Places. From the owners website, they felt it was a "beautiful home" and desired to expand on the 2700 square foot home "by adding an addition to the rear of the home." If you click over to the owners website, you cannot read the text unless you highlight it for some reason. He goes through the decision-making process and attempts to defend his actions.

Apparently there were structural problems that needed to be addressed in this 1924 home. According to the engineers on the project, the cost to restabilize the home for another 80 years would have only been $150,000. The owner is not willing to pay that, but is willing to pay upwards of $1 million to build a new 7,200 square foot home? $100/square foot for a 7,200 square foot home will cost $720,000. And I doubt he will get the new home for that cheap.

The owners website documents what they want to do and why, but it all feels hollow and forced. He is thorough, but ultimately made a poor choice. What he and the community of Salt Lake lost is irreplaceable, no matter what home is built there now. In a historic district and neighborhood, there is almost always the option of restoration or new foundation work, which would be cheaper than starting over. And comparing the original home to the new design, well, there really is no comparison.


(Image source)

My number one question is: Why didn't he think to have an 85-year-old home checked out before purchasing to see if there were structural deficiencies and to confirm that he would be able to easily add onto it as was his original plan? THE HISTORIC HOMES AND UNIQUE ARCHITECTURE ARE THE ATTRACTION OF THIS NEIGHBORHOOD that he moved into. So he moves in and two years later has destroyed the very thing he purchased that helps make this neighborhood beautiful and unique! I truly do not understand.

To their credit, they actually tried to sell the home earlier this year. On the 28th of April 2009, the home was put on the market for $945,000. On the 11th of June 2009, the home price was reduced to $899,500. After 62 days, less than a month ago, it was taken off the market. According to the Salt Lake Tribune article, there was an $875,000 cash offer that they declined and opted to destroy the home instead and start over.

I love the remarks included in the real estate report when the home was on the market, “Curb appeal is unbeatable! Home has been prepared for total remodel.”


(Image source - Salt Lake Tribune)

Prior to receiving a demolition permit, a building permit was approved for the new home. While the new design at least has some sensitivity to the site, it is still a 7,200 square foot home. That’s quite an addition. So you mean to tell me that they would have been happy with their existing 2,700 square foot home purchase and a small addition in the back, even if there were no foundation problems? That’s a far cry from this new 7,200 square foot home. It sounds like this is what they wanted from the beginning. In todays slow high-end market, an $875,000 offer for the existing home was a good one. They could have taken it and built their 7,200 square foot home in almost ANY OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD IN UTAH and no one would have cared one bit. But instead they chose to destroy a treasure of the city in one of the few Historic Districts Salt Lake City has. What a travesty. What a loss. What a sad day.

City Wide Historic Preservation Master Plan
City Weekly article



View salt lake architecture in a larger map

dreier home

This fantastic home off Mueller Park Road in Bountiful was designed by the late Eduard Dreier over 30 years ago, sometime in the 1970's. The home addresses the site and the region it is built in. The home uses thermal massing by placing the large fireplace in the center of building. From this, the home is able to remain cool in the summer and warm in the winter. There is generous glazing on the south facade with large overhangs to block the high summer sunlight but allow in the low winter light. The original owner who commissioned the design still lives there. Unfortunately, they never agreed to have the home published. I wasn't able to get inside, but the owner was kind enough to let me walk around the property.


Large overhangs protecting home from south-facing summer light. Photo taken from bridge walkway over a stream leading to the entry.


South facade of home.

As you can see, the home is part of the landscape, does not feel intrusive, and seems to belong to the land - as a natural extension. It fits in to the surrounding context in which it is placed; it is not forced or arrogant. The home is interested in seeing and understanding, not in being seen or understood. Compare this to the McMansions being built up the hill. These homes want to be seen and stand out. They are cookie-cutter houses you can find anywhere in America. The Dreier home is a home designed specifically for the Utah climate by a local architect with minimal impact on the surrounding community. In contrast, McMansions are designed by builders and graze down or force a community where they shouldn't be one; in this case on the top of a hill.


McMansions being built up the hill from home.


Landscaped steps leading from stream up to home.


Front of home.

mt olivet cemetery

Cemeteries are beautiful places that offer a great deal of design on a small scale. These sacred spaces also provide an important connection both to the earth and to our past. Mount Olivet Cemetery, adjacent to a large thoroughfare in Salt Lake City, provides a space that is quiet and peaceful, allowing meditation in the middle of a bustling city. Here people are careful how they drive, talk, walk and act.

By far the most exciting and beautiful part of the cemetery are a series of individual family mausoleums; a neighborhood of small well-designed buildings nestled amongst rolling hills with abundant wildlife all around. Both times I visited the site, dozens of deer were present.


Young family mausoleum. Photo taken by author 07 Jun 2009.

These buildings with unknown designers deal with site placement, material selection, style, threshold, entry, security, and window and door openings, including stain glass windows. Many are approaching one hundred years old. In a way they act as precious jewel-box designs from a past era. Each of these family mausoleums were up to the family to design and build as they saw fit.


L to R: Lewis and Bamberger family mausoleums. Photo taken by author 07 Jun 2009.


Skylight in Lewis Family mausoleum. Visible only because glass on front door was broken, allowing a view inside. Photo taken by author 07 Jun 2009.

List of several family mausoleums with guessed dates of construction based on earliest burials within:
Victor Clement d. Apr 1903
Removed and placed in Mrs. Clement's vault on 16 Jul 1906
Constructed approx. 1906

James David Wood d. 17 Jan 1909
Removed and placed in Mrs. J D Wood Vault 02 Mar 1911
Constructed approx. 1911

Agnes Dow Ireland d. 27 Sep 1930
Constructed prior to 1930

Joseph Young d. 20 Mar 1925
Removed and placed in Young vault 14 Jan 1932
Constructed approx. 1932

Ernest Bamberger (married to Eleanor Dooly dau. of John E Dooly) d. 1958
son John Ernest Bamberger bur. 29 May 1944 (entombment)
Bertha Bamberger bur. 14 May 1939
Walter C Lewis bur. 10 Aug 1943 in J E Bamberger vault
Constructed prior to 1939



Ireland family mausoleum built into hillside. Photo taken by author 07 Jun 2009.


Snyder family mausoleum. Photo taken by author 07 Jun 2009.


L to R: Harkness, Ireland, and Bamberger family mausoleums. Photo taken by author 07 Jun 2009.


L to R: Young, Felkner, and Wood family mausoleums. Photo taken by author 07 Jun 2009.


Established by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1874, Mount Olivet was established as a public burial place for all people at a reasonable cost. The entry gate on 500 South was designed by Walter Ware; the English Tudor office residence by Ware and Treganza; the red building to the south by Kletting, the architect of the Utah Capitol. More than 35,000 former citizens rest in the 50 developed acres of the cemetery. The Red Rock area is exclusively for cremains, though cremains can be interred in any plot. Eighty-eight varieties of trees shade paved roads that serve as strolling paths for nearby residents and for family and friends who come to reminisce. (Deseret News 16 Jun 1997)


Cemetery office designed by Ware & Treganza. Photo taken by author 09 Jun 2009.


Red Building designed by Kletting. Photo taken by author 09 Jun 2009.

A colorful past lies buried at Mount Olivet
S.L. Graveyard: Some of the state’s richest and most powerful people are interred at the cemetery.
Mount Olivet Cemetery was founded in 1874, at a time when the territory’s Mormons and non-Mormons clashed daily over questions of commerce, politics, polygamy and statehood. It’s not that non-Mormons couldn’t be buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. They could. But they wanted a place of their own.

So Episcopal Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle, with the help of the commander of Camp (now Fort) Douglas, petitioned Congress for 20 acres of the Army’s land. Mount Olivet was Salt Lake City’s second public burial ground and the only public non-profit cemetery in the United States ever to be created by an act of Congress. Bishop Tuttle named it after an academy he attended as a boy in the East.

The deed to Mount Olivet Cemetery came with some water rights to Red Butte and Emigration creeks, irrigation rights the trustees retain to this day. Those water rights were a source of pride in early times. The trustees of Mount Olivet reveled in the lush beauty of their park, especially because, located high on a hill, the Salt Lake Cemetery burned brown every summer.

Mount Olivet gained more land over the years. Now it has 88 acres. Half are developed; 31,000 people are interred here.

Some of the state’s richest and most powerful people are buried in Mount Olivet. Coleman likes to point out the graves of mining magnates Thomas Kearns and David Keith, the entrepreneur Walker brothers, bankers Russell Lord Tracy and James Collins, Gov. George H. Dern (who was also secretary of war under Franklin Roosevelt) and a number of Salt Lake mayors.

Utah’s Silver Queen, Susanna Bransford Emery, is buried somewhere in Mount Olivet. Coleman says that at the time of her burial there were so many rumors “about the silver dress she was buried in and silver dollars in her coffin” that the exact location of her grave was kept secret. (Deseret News 5 Jun 1991)


Greenhouse at Mt Olivet Cemetery. Photograph dated 1 Oct 1913. From Utah State Historical Society website.


Remains of Greenhouse. Photo taken by author 09 Jun 2009.

Mount Olivet is a public, non-profit cemetery established by an Act of Congress that was signed by President U.S. Grant. The Salt Lake Mount Olivet was designed by three architects and known for its red sandstone and wrought iron-gates, office and barn. (Deseret News 25 May 1994)

Notice the handsome office-residence just within the decorative iron gates at the main entrance. This building replaced an earlier wooden shack that served as the sexton's headquarters. A Mrs. Hall of the congregational Church donated funding for the Tudor design by Ware and Treganza, constructed in 1911. Recently the shielding overgrown pines were removed from the front yard, and the exterior of the building restored to its original color scheme and beauty. Beside it is the spacious dark red brick carriage house, added in 1913. Under its gabled roof the hay vas stored for the horses below, and multiple vehicles of the day. Today, all the horses, 380 of them, are under the hood of the tractor that serves so many functions.

The adjacent greenhouse no longer serves its original purpose. When there was a permanent staff of ten or more, it was possible to maintain extensive flower beds with their own stock from the greenhouse. Now with a reduced staff, down to six, with extras in the busy seasons, the present group is hard pressed to keep up with the chores of the much extended area presently in use.

Some crypts are still in active use (Bamberger and Snyder) but since they take extra funds for maintenance, they are not as popular as they once were. Each structure can house one to thirteen caskets on the shelves within. (Floralie K. Millsaps, August 1988, A TOUR OF MOUNT OLIVET: The Cemetery Comes to Life)


Entry gate designed by Ware & Treganza. Photo taken by author 09 Jun 2009.


Entry gate designed by Ware & Treganza. Photo taken by author 09 Jun 2009.

canyon house

architect: Thomas Shafer (Grunsfeld Shafer Architects)
design: 1993-1996
construction: 1997-1999
general contractor: Lowell Construction
photography: Scot Zimmerman Photography
text source: GA Houses, Mar 1996, n. 48, p.108


Site plan from GA Houses, Mar 1996, n. 48, p.109

Site: The site is located at the mouth of the Little Cottonwood Canyon at the beginning of a scenic, canyon road which ascends to the Alta and Snowbird ski resorts. At the base of the Wasatch Mountain range, the site offers spectacular panoramic views up and down the canyon.


Floor plans from GA Houses, Mar 1996, n. 48, p.108

Program: A 6400-square-foot three-story single-family residence which must eventually accommodate "single," "married" and "family" stages of life while continually providing an intriguing living experience between the interior and exterior.


Model from GA Houses, Mar 1996, n. 48, p.109

Design solution: The design has been consciously stratified, both sectionally and geologically in order to heighten one's understanding of "place," either within the carved sub-terranean environment of thick walls and slot windows, or on the exposed "shelf" of the living room. The upper floor turns it back on the panoramic world, both concealing and securing its inhabitant in the privacy of the office and master bedroom suite.


Picture of foyer by Scot Zimmerman Photography

The "Pavilion" positions itself to embrace the panoramic views north to the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island and Salt Lake City. Easterly views up Little Cottonwood Canyon reveal vibrant and rugged mountain vistas. The "shelf" provides an expansive and limitless base for the "Pavilion," spatially contained only by the form of its floating roof.


Elevation from GA Houses, Mar 1996, n. 48, p.109

The "Box," on the other hand, has been designed for semi-private spaces such as the kitchen and dining room on the first level and personal and professional privacy on the Upper level offering localized and framed views "up" the mountain. This upper level suite in direct response to the "individual" in both scale and detail, provides the secluded and tranquil area of the house. In contrast to the transparency of the "Pavilion," the more residential enclosure system of the "Box" is of cedar cladding with operable wood windows and doors.

The "Parterre" accommodates the programmatic requirement of an exterior living space for personal lounging and entertaining. A bi-level cedar deck provides for both winter and summer activities. Additional outdoor "rooms" have been developed within the interstitial spaces between the three components and the excavated "shelf." Formal entry requires ascension through a carved-out space between "Box" and "Pavilion."


Section sketch from Grunsfeld Shafer Architects website


Section from GA Houses, Mar 1996, n. 48, p.109

The profile and mass remains intentionally "horizontal" and low, contributing to a minimalist "bulk," burying nearly half of the living space below grade. This effort enables a particularly large volume to "appear" smaller and offers the user an opportunity to experience both the concealed and exposed environments within the house. Circulation through the house is noticeably effortless when moving "with" the mountain yet becomes consciously more difficult when one moves against the natural grade, either descending or ascending sectionally.


Picture by Scot Zimmerman Photography

rural grain silo home

Montesilo is the name of a unique home, built in 2006, that utilizes two corrugated metal grain silos in Woodland, Utah adjacent to the Provo River. Designed to accommodate the owner, Earl Stein, as well as future grandchildren, two linked corrugated metal grain silos were arranged to allow the largest (27’ diameter) to have the greatest access to the Provo River, and the southern exposure to ensure passive solar heat gain during the winter. An electric mesh is embedded into the slabs of the lower floor as a first auxiliary heat source, and a propane-burning stove (manageable by internet) will provide the back-up. The metal grating and guard rail of the second level deck will provide shading into this great-room space during the summer months.

Awards:

• 2006 AIA Utah Peoples Choice Award
• 2007 AIA Western Mountain Regional Citation Award
  

-Owners blog showing entire construction process.
-Arch Daily article





Footings installed


Foundation walls


Concrete slab finish


Metal silo assembled out of the box. The top was assembled first and then jacked up to add section below.


Inner wall built adjacent to metal silo. Window/Door openings were then cut out.


I would have liked to see natural light preserved through the oculus as shown in this construction photo rather than framing over and enclosing the opening.


“Bed in a Box” concept at perimeter, each complete with stereo sound and flat screen monitor.


Kitchen and Stair


View from the Provo River

Images obtained from Gigaplex Architects.